FCT gets Land Use, Allocation Committee
NAN-H-84
Committee
By Kabir Muhammad
Abuja, Sept. 21, 2016 (NAN) FCT Minister Muhammad Bello says he has constituted the FCT Land Use and Allocation Committee (LUAC) in line with the provisions of the Land Use Act 1978.
Bello made this known while receiving the Commandant of the National Defence College (NDC), Rear Admiral Sunday Alade, who paid him a working visit on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, the 12-member Land Use and Allocation Committee is to be chaired by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye.
He said that the committee was expected to identify land available for possible allocation within the territory and process requests.
The committee is also expected to advise the minister on matters connected with the management of land, resettlement of persons affected by the revocation of rights of occupancy, he said.
Furthermore, he said that the committee would also determine land disputes and the amount of compensation payable for improvement on land.
Bello said that the committee would ensure equity, transparency and due process in all land allocation in the territory.
He identified members of the committee to include the General Counsel/Secretary, Legal Services Secretariat; Secretary, Area Council Services Secretariat and Director of Engineering Services.
Also in the committee are Directors Resettlement & Compensation; Urban & Regional Planning; Survey & Mapping as well as Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS).
Others are the Special Assistants to the Minister and the Permanent Secretary and the Director of Land Administration, who would also serve as the Secretary to the committee.
Bello, however, said that all new land allocations would be tied to development of infrastructure such as power, access roads, telecommunication ducts as well as sewer lines, to reduce considerably the time between allocation and actual development.
The minister promised to assist the NDC to establish a secondary school at its NDC Barrack in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council, but said that it would be funded by the college.
He directed the Department of Urban and Regional Planning to identify a suitable plot within the vicinity of the barrack, in conformity with the Land Use and the Abuja Master Plan.
Earlier, the NDC Commandant, described the college as the highest military institution in the country training officers from the rank of Colonel and above, top civil servants, the para-military as well as officers from friendly countries.
Alade said that the college currently had 135 participants including 13 countries participating, with a mix of military and civilian population. (NAN)
KM/NKO/NKO
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(Edited by Nkechi Okoronkwo)